WFP suspends aid to Somalia after ship hijacked

NAIROBI, Tuesday (Reuters) The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday it has suspended aid shipments to lawless Somalia after gunmen hijacked a vessel it chartered and demanded a $500,000 ransom.

"WFP has suspended all shipments to Somalia due to insecurity of the waters along the east coast," WFP spokeswoman Rene McGuffin said.

"This decision will be reviewed on the release of the vessel," she added. On average, WFP provides 3,000 tonnes of aid a month to 275,000 people in the Horn of Africa country.

It said it only has two weeks' worth of food inside Somalia.

Militias captured the MV Semlov and its 10 crew members a week ago while it was en route to the northern port of Bossaso.

WFP said a delegation from Somalia's new transitional government had travelled to the region from Mogadishu on Monday to negotiate with local elders and militias.

"People are still trying to negotiate the release," said Inayet Kudrati, director of the Kenya-based Mokatu Shipping Agency, which leased the ship to WFP.

He said the agency had not had any contact with the crew - a Sri Lankan captain, a Tanzanian engineer and eight Kenyans - since the ransom demand was made last week.

The Kenyan government said in a statement the men were "safe and in good health". "The government is monitoring their condition and working closely with the United Nations to get them released," the statement said.